If you’ve finished off all the Easter candy (even the ones you hid from your children!), it’s time for another sweet treat: a birthday cake. On May 20 of this year, we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church. This holy day is so vital to the mission and existence of the Church that is falls directly behind Easter and Christmas in importance. Why?
Much like Easter, Confirmation suffers a mental ‘exit point’ for many young Catholics. As Easter is looked upon as the end of parent-imposed Lenten fast, some Catholic children treat Confirmation as the end of having anything to do with going to Mass or living a Christian life.
The Christmas story is referred to many times throughout the Bible. It captures the beautiful gift that God gave to humankind which is the gift of His only son, Jesus Christ. Christmas reminds us of how Jesus became human in order to save us but it is not just the account of his birth. The Christmas story also lets us see how Christ’s arrival transformed the lives of the people surrounding Him.
The Advent Season starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day or the Sunday that is closest to November 30 and it ends on Christmas Eve or December 24th. If Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, it is considered the fourth Sunday of Advent and the time after sundown is considered to be Christmas Eve. To prepare for the beautiful celebration of Advent, let’s look into its meaning and reflect its importance in our lives as Christians.
The Apostle’s Creed is perhaps one of the most well-known Catholic creed and is a summary of the apostles’ faith. Sometimes called the Symbol of the Apostles, it is an early statement of Christian belief and has been used by Christians since the fourth century.
The topic of Catholics and Halloween is a controversial one. Many people around the world celebrate Halloween with costume parties, scary decorations and trick-or-treating from one house to the next. Should Catholics participate in these traditions? Should we celebrate Halloween?
As Christians, we are expected to manifest the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. These twelve fruits are different from the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. They are granted to us during our baptism and perfected through the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The seven gifts serve as virtues for us to follow while the twelve fruits are the actions that those virtues produce. We are expected to manifest these fruits in our lives as Christians.
